Five Families/The Godfather

The Five Families are the five major New York-based American Mafia families, namely the Barzini crime family, Corleone crime family, Cuneo crime family, Stracci crime family, and Tattaglia crime family. The families were created as a result of the "Pacification of New York" (1934-1937) by Vito Corleone, who wiped out the Black Hand extortionists, freelance loansharks, unprotected bookmakers, and the Irish Mob, and they each gained their own territories in the city. Don Philip Tattaglia owned Brooklyn, Emilio Barzini owned Midtown, Carmine Cuneo owned Hell's Kitchen, Victor Stracci owned New Jersey, and Corleone and Tattaglia shared Little Italy. In 1945, the peace was disturbed as a result of the introduction of narcotics to New York organized crime, leading to the "Sollozzo Intrigue". When the Corleones murdered the drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo for attempting the assassination of Corleone, the "Five Families War" broke out between the Corleones and the other four families, and it would last from 1946 to 1955. The Corleones would emerge victorious at the end of the war, nearly wiping out the other families after bombing their compounds, taking over all of their rackets, killing all of their made men, and conquering their neighborhoods. In the following decades, the Corleones established themselves as the dominant family in New York, with the other families being reduced to vassals.